George Zimmerman's lawyer has chided him for visiting a firearms factory that makes the type of gun he used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin last year.

Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder in July, was this week pictured at the Kel-Tec plant in Cocoa, Florida, grinning and shaking hands with an employee.

'We understand how George visiting the factory that produces the gun used to shoot Trayvon Martin is seen as inappropriate,' Shawn Vincent, spokesman for Zimmerman's lawyer Mark O'Mara, told Reuters on Friday.

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Shopping around: This is the first public image of George Zimmerman to emerge since his acquittal on murder charges. He poses here with an employee at the Kel Tec gun factory

Zimmerman and his lawyer stopped at the gun maker's headquarters to check out the high-capacity Kel-Tec KSG pump-action shotgun.

TMZ.com reports that Zimmerman was interested in buying the weapon, though it is unclear whether he actually left with one.

Zimmerman's 9mm pistol, also made by Kel Tec, was returned to him after he was acquitted of all charges in the death of Trayvon Martin

They can be devastating at close range - and much more effective than the 9mm bullet fired by his handgun. Shotshells lose most of their effectiveness at ranges over 25 to 35 yards.

Whereas Zimmerman's Kel-Tec pistol is small and concealable, the shotgun he examined is meant to make a statement. It emits an audible sound - familiar to any hunter or fan of zombie movies - whenever the action is cycled.

Zimmerman, 29, has been a free man since he was acquitted of all charges July 13 in the shooting of unarmed Trayvon. The racially-charged case brought thousands of death threats to Zimmerman and his family. A fringe black panther group reportedly put a price on his head, as well.

After his acquittal, police returned the pistol that killed Trayvon to Zimmerman. He was carrying it in his truck when he was pulled over in Texas less than two weeks later.

The former neighborhood watch volunteer from Sanford, Florida, was forced to flee his home and has been in hiding ever since the case began receiving international attention.

Controversy: Zimmerman says that supporters of slain teenager Trayvon Martin have sent his family thousands of death threats